Functionalism & New right policy

Functionalism & New right policy:
Functionalist thinking has influenced new right political thinking which is strictly conservative, anti-feminist & stresses the importance of the Nuclear family & the dangers of family diversity.

Fletcher (1966) highlights how the family is 'helped out' by the state so that it can perform it's functions more effectively.

New right politics have taken this a step further & argue that families should be self-reliant & require minimum 'outside'/ 'state' help. The nuclear family is ideally set up to be 'Self-sufficient'.

Murray = newright = anti- policy
"fathers abandon their families as the state will provide for them."
"Council housing promotes teenage pregnancy & undermines marriage."
Benefits encourage lone-parents who in turn promote deviance & a welfare dependant underclass.

New Labour:

Despite the fact that New right politics is heavily  Conservative, New Labour has also tended to favour the 'Traditional' nuclear family (although they are more accepting of diversity)

One of the major differences between new labour and new right is that new labour believe that state intervention and aid actually helps families out (particularly low income families rather than encourages 'Dependency'

New labour policies include:

• The new deal for lone parents 2001
• the adoption reform act 2002
• national minimum wage act 1998
• family tax credits (means tested)

Femininism

policies are based on the assumption that the normal type of family is nuclear headed by males who perform the instrumental role meaning that women should be  economically dependant on them & must care for children.

Patriarchial policies will encourage marriage & the gendered division of labour. Tax and benefit policies assume that men are the main breadwinner making it difficult for wives to claim benefits in their own right.

policies that seem to benefit women often actually benefit men more e.g Maternity leave child benefit being paid to women.

Feminist arguments on gender biased family policy can be used when considering equality with families.

Drew 1995 gender Regimes:

Drew argues that family policies help to promote gender regimes that can prevent or reinforce gender inequality in the family.

The setting Off

OBJ: To demonstrate our understanding of AO2 through responses to unseen poems.

Example of a 5 mark AO1 question:

1) Poets often deploy auditory devices for effect. Comment on the use and effect of sound devices in the poem (The Send Off)
Firstly, the poet has injected a euphonic sound in the opening which conveys a feeling of excitement and great expectation of those going to war. Also, the poem ends with cacophonous sounds ('silent') which is juxtaposed with the implicit triumph of "great bells". The effect is to convey an anti-climatic feeling. Furthermore, the sibilant sounds "like wrongs hushed up" has been used to inject a moribund and conspiratorial tone in the poem. The poet has also made use of alliterated oxymoron ("grimly gay") which highlights the sense of hope, overthrown by discordance. Finally, the poet deploys elongated assonant vowels "drums and yells" to compound the negative mood at the end of the poem.

Example of a 5 mark AO2 question:

1) Poets often make use of imagery. Using two examples from the poem, explore the use of imagery. (The Send Off)
Owen has illuminated the repercussions of the people going to war. "May creep back, silent, to still village wells Up half-known roads." Firstly, the imagery used creates a very clandestine feeling through the use of sibilance. furthermore, the use of medial caesura compounds the idea of "silence" which creates an eerie mood and implies the desertion throughout the village. The poet has included interesting conspiratorial imagery."Signals nodded, and a lamp Winked to the guard. So secretly, like wrongs hushed up they went. they where not ours." The use of the personification creates a sinister and doleful mood, suggesting the soldiers' oblivion. The lamp may be perceived as a symbol, metaphorically alluding to hope and salvation. Also, the juxtaposition between the 'guard' and the departing soldiers also foreshadows the idea of death in the poem.

Example of a 10 mark AO1 and AO2 question:


1) Poets wish us to consider a number of important themes. using your knowledge of poetry, discuss what you think are the important themes in the poem, and comment on the ways these are developed.
Owen includes themes such as war and it's inevitable lead to the deaths of all the young men that have participated. This theme is developed throughout the poem by starting off as the the soldiers "Sang their way" This could of been deployed in order to distract the men from the terrors of what will come and give them a sense of community and family with each other, while encouraging them to bond and trust each other. It moves on to say that the men had faces that were grimly gay. This suggests that the men were excited by the concept of war and felt like they were doing the right thing for their country. however the word 'grimly' reflects the reluctance of the soldiers and the knowledge that they might die. the poet has included imagery to show the fatal nature of war "Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray as men's are, dead." the state of the men's bodies could refer to the hopelessness of their future efforts as the poet foreshadows their demise.

Owen introduces the idea that war is exploitative in this poem. Perhaps he is showing us that young men are being cajoled into going into war.

Postmodernism

• Giddens
• Family now involves greater choice and equality due to:
• contraception allows for intimacy rather than reproduction as a reason for the relationship.
• changing role and opportunities for women
• Families now define their relationships themselves - It is individual and works for them.
• He calls this 'Pure relationships' based on love and happiness and not tradition or sense of duty.
• Relationships become a part of 'self discovery'
• However more choice leads to greater instability.

• Beck
• We live in a 'risk society'. Tradition is less influential due to choice.
• We became more aware of risk as we calculate them when we are making our choices.
• The patriarchal family has now been replaced by the negotiated family - we calculate the risk before we enter the relationship to ensure that we from it what we want.
• The negotiated family is more equal than the nuclear family but less stable as individuals are free to leave when they no longer get from it what they want.

• Stacey (1998)
• Greater choice in relationships has benefited women as it has freed them from patriarchy, allowing them to shape the relationship to suit their needs.
• Women have been the main instigators of change within the family creating new ones to suit their needs.
• One new structure is 'the divorced extended family' - contact with divorced partner and their new partners and kids etc.
• Such families illustrate the diverse nature of postmodern families.
• 'The Family' as a single concept no longer makes sense.

• Weeks (2000)
• There is growing acceptance of diversity especially amongst the under 35s
•  However, family patterns are still quite traditional but diversity is common. New right are fighting a loosing battle to retain the nuclear family.

A wish - Analysis

OBJ: To explore how the poet use language and form to create meaning and ideas.

Analysis of 'A Wish' by Samuel Rogers:

IT is a form of pastoral poetry and it has a naturalistic theme. The poem includes a regular rhyming scheme, the effect of this is that it gives a child like feel, it prolongs and expands the happiness felt. The rhyming couplets are a metaphor for the parental roles which are complementary of each other.

'The Swallow oft beneath my thatch'  The swallow is symbolism of love and care/ affection towards a loved one. The 'thatch' being the roof of his house. This part means that love is living under his roof, alternatively, the swallow is a tattoo  used to mark the start of a sailor's journey, two swallows means the end. The poem only states a single Swallow, which could mean the journey has only just started.

'The Village Church among the trees...' Religion is a intimate part of their life together.

'A bee-hive's hum shall soothe my ear..' Busy working in order to provide for the family

'Twitter/ Soothe my ear' Euphonious sounds create a home as a place of tranquillity.

'Each fragrent flower that drinks the dew' Alliteration and personification represents rejuvenation and new life.

The Wife A-Lost

SINCE I noo mwore do zee your feäce,
Up steärs or down below,
I'll zit me in the lwonesome pleäce,
Where flat-bough'd beech do grow;
Below the beeches' bough, my love,
Where you did never come,
An' I don't look to meet ye now,
As I do look at hwome.

Since you noo mwore be at my zide,
In walks in zummer het,
I'll goo alwone where mist do ride,
Droo trees a-drippèn wet;
Below the raïn-wet bough, my love,
Where you did never come,
An' I don't grieve to miss ye now,
As I do grieve at hwome.

Since now bezide my dinner-bwoard
Your vaïce do never sound,
I'll eat the bit I can avword
A-vield upon the ground;
Below the darksome bough, my love,
Where you did never dine,
An' I don't grieve to miss ye now,
As I at hwome do pine.

Since I do miss your vaïce an' feäce
In prayer at eventide,
I'll pray wi' woone sad vaïce vor greäce
To goo where you do bide;
Above the tree an' bough, my love,
Where you be gone avore,
An' be a-waïtèn vor me now,
To come vor evermwore.

By William Barnes

I Remember, I Remember

I remember, I remember,

The house where I was born,

The little window where the sun

Came peeping in at morn;

He never came a wink too soon,

Nor brought too long a day,

But now, I often wish the night

Had borne my breath away!

I remember, I remember,

The roses, red and white,

The vi'lets, and the lily-cups,

Those flowers made of light!

The lilacs where the robin built,

And where my brother set

The laburnum on his birthday,—

The tree is living yet!

I remember, I remember,

Where I was used to swing,

And thought the air must rush as fresh

To swallows on the wing;

My spirit flew in feathers then,

That is so heavy now,

And summer pools could hardly cool

The fever on my brow!

I remember, I remember,

The fir trees dark and high;

I used to think their slender tops

Were close against the sky:

It was a childish ignorance,

But now 'tis little joy

To know I'm farther off from heav'n

Than when I was a boy. 

By Thomas Hood

The Old Familiar Faces

I have had playmates, I have had companions,

In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days,

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.

I have been laughing, I have been carousing,

Drinking late, sitting late, with my bosom cronies,

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.

I loved a love once, fairest among women;

Closed are her doors on me, I must not see her —

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.

I have a friend, a kinder friend has no man;

Like an ingrate, I left my friend abruptly;

Left him, to muse on the old familiar faces.

Ghost-like, I paced round the haunts of my childhood.

Earth seemed a desert I was bound to traverse,

Seeking to find the old familiar faces.

Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother,

Why wert not thou born in my father's dwelling?

So might we talk of the old familiar faces —

How some they have died, and some they have left me,

And some are taken from me; all are departed;

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.

 

By Charles Lamb

A Wish

Mine be a cot beside the hill,
A bee-hive's hum shall sooth my ear;
A willowy brook, that turns a mill,
With many a fall shall linger near.

The swallow, oft, beneath my thatch,
Shall twitter from her clay-built nest;
Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch,
And share my meal, a welcome guest.

Around my ivy'd porch shall spring
Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew;
And Lucy, at her wheel, shall sing
In russet gown and apron blue.

The village-church, among the trees,
Where first our marriage-vows were giv'n,
With merry peals shall swell the breeze,

And point with taper spire to heav'n.

 By Samuel Rogers

Post Modernism

• We no longer live in a predictable modern world with orderly and predictable structures such as the nuclear family but we are now postmodernism.
• Families are fragmented and individuals have more choice leading to greater diversity in family life. No one family dominates.

Is the Family in decline?

OBJ: Use the evidence that follows to provide an argument that answers the above question.

Relationship status
Singletons at 20. Married or cohabiting by 30. That is the trend colourfully depicted here.
Again, using figures from the 2011 Census, the book reveals how many people marry and then migrate from inner to outer London.





12 data maps that sum up London

What does the Rapoports say about family diversity?

Unlike chester, Rhona and Robert Rapoport (1982) argue that diversity is of central importance in understanding family life today. They believe that we have moved away from the traditional nuclear family as the dominant family type, to a range of different types. Families in Britain have adapted to a pluralistic society - That is, one in which cultures and lifestyles are more diverse.

In their view, family diversity represents greater freedom of choice and the widespread acceptance of different cultures and ways of life.

they identify five different types of family in Britain today:

1. Organisational diversity: This refers to differences in the ways family roles are organised. For example, some couples have joint conjugal roles and two wage-earners, while others have segregated conjugal roles and one wage-earner.
2. Cultural diversity: different cultural, religious and ethnic groups have different family structures. For example, there is a higher proportion of female-headed families among African-Caribbean households.
3. Social class diversity: differences in family structure are partly the result of income differences between households of different classes. Likewise, there are class differences in child-rearing practices.
4. Life-stage diversity: family structures differ according to the stage reached in the life cycle - for example, newly-weds, couples with children, retired couples whose children have left home, and widows or widowers who are living alone.
5. Generational diversity: older and younger generations have different attitudes and experiences that reflect the historical periods in which they have lived. For example, they may have different views about the morality of divorce or cohabitation.

 Source: AQA AS Level Sociology textbook, ISBN: 0954007956 

Life course analysis:

• Focuses on individual family members and how they make their choices in order to understand the family.

• Looks at the meaning that people give to life events and choices in order to understand how they construct their family life.

This can be called 'micro' sociology.

• Hareven (1978)
• There is flexibility and variation in peoples family life in terms of:
• Choices and decisions that are made.
• Sequence of events and turning points e.g. when to have a baby etc.

• Morgan (1996) Family Practices 
• Routine practices to create our sense of being a family member e.g. feeding the children (not...)
• Family practices are determined by our beliefs about rights and obligations within the family. 
• Concept of family practices helps us to see why conflict occurs - we hold different beliefs about each others responcibility
• Families are not concrete structures but are what people do.

• Morgan (2007)
• Networks such as family, friends and other kinds of relationship become less clear and boundaries between them become blurred.
• Structuralism  that sees the family as a clear cut institution is no longer relevent to help us to understand the family.
• But Structures within society will still affect individuals expectations of each other e.g gender roles.

  

Audience

OBJ: To understand how to attract and address an audience.

Audience:

All media texts are made with an audience in mind; a group of people who will receive it and make some sort of sense out of it. In general, but not always, the producers make some money out of their audience. It is therefore important to understand what happens when an audience views a media text.

Using questionnaires, focus groups and comparisons to existing media texts, media producers will spend a great deal of time and money ascertaining  if there is anyone out there who might be interested in their idea. Media producers want to know the income bracket/ status, age, gender, race and location of their potential audience. this method of categorising in known as demographics.

Once they know this, they can begin to shape their text to appeal to their viewer ship with known reading/viewing/listening habits.

Target audience:

A target audience or target group is the primary group of people that a product is aimed at. A target audience can be defined by age group, gender, marital status etc. Examples of such audiences would be teenagers, females, single people etc. Combinations of factors are often used to create target audiences for example, males aged 16-24. Other groups, although not the main focus, may also be interested. Discovering the appropriate target market for a product is one of the most important stages involved with market research. Without knowing the target audience selling a product can become difficult and very expensive.

Demographics:

Marketers typically combine several variables to define a demographic profile. A demographic profiles or demographic provides enough information about the typical members of this group to create a picture of the group.
 A marketer might speak of the single, female, middle-class, age 18-24, university educated demographic. Marketing researchers typically have two objectives in this regard: first to determine what segments or subgroups exist in the overall population; and secondly to create a clear and complete picture of the characteristics of a typical member of each of these segments. Once these profiles are constructed, they can be used to develop a marketing strategy and marketing plan.

How will you attract your target audience?

You must carefully consider every element of your magazine to make sure it would appeal to its audience. You need to explain the methods you will use to attract your audience. You then need to explain the methods you will use to address your audience.

Attracting:

Attracting your audience is all about making your audience want to engage with your media product and invest time and (usually) money with it. You will use many different ways to attract your audience. These include:

- Images

- Mode of address, centre image links to audience

- colours, appeals to audience

- Genre conventions

- Free stuff

- Layout

- Cover lines

- Pricing

Definition of 'Mode of address' - The way that a media product 'speaks' to its audience.

- Mediadictionary.com

The decline of Macbeth

OBJ: To explore the decline of Macbeth.

"The vividness, magnitude, and violence of the imagery in some of these passages are characteristic of Macbeth almost throughout; and their influence contributes to form its atmosphere..."

"There is thus something magnificently appropriate in the cry 'blow, wind! come, wrack!' with which Macbeth, turning from the sight of the moving wood Birnam, bursts from his castle. He was borne to his throne on a whirlwind, and the fate he goes to meet comes on the wings of storm"

AC Bradley - Shakespearian Tragedy

The decline of Lady Macbeth

OBJ: To explore Lady Macbeth's decline and death, To probe the language that shows Lady Macbeth's remorse in the sleepwalking scene.

"It would be a perfect example of poetic justice in the manner of talion if the childlessness of Macbeth and the barrenness of his Lady were the punishment of their crimes against the sanctity of generation – If Macbeth could not become a father because he had robbed children of their father and a father of his children, and if Lady Macbeth suffered the unsexing she had demanded of the spirits of murder: I believe Lady Macbeth's illness, the transformation of her callousness into penitence, could be explained directly as a reaction to her childlessness, by which she is convinced of her impotence against the decrees of nature, and at the same time reminded that it is through her own fault if her crime has been robbed of the better part of its fruits."

-TS Elliot

"The failure of nature in Lady Macbeth is marked by her fear of darkness; 'she has light by her continually.' And in the one phrase of fear that escapes her lips even in sleep, it is of the darkness of the place of torment that she speaks"

- Shakespearian Tragedy: AC Bradley

Lone Parent Families

Obj: To understand the reasons for the increase in lone parent families. To understand the New Right & feminist views of lone parent families and evaluate these.


The Reality: 

• In the UK, the percentage of single parent families has tripled since 1970s.
• Now in the UK, about 25% of families with dependant children are single parent families.
• 1 in 5 children in Europe live with a lone parent.
• In the past single parent families were usually caused by being widowed, now most are from divorce or from couples not getting married in the first place.

Changes and attitudes in society that have lead to an increased number of lone parent  families:

• People feel like they don't need to be with a partner to have a family.
• Divorce is cheaper now, so people don't have to stay with a partner they no longer love.
• People are leaving partners that abuse them or are unable to provide for the family.
• Unplanned pregnancies in teenage years. (sexual permissiveness)
• Women are more independent, so they no longer feel like they need to be financially dependent on men.
• Feminists see this as a good thing, whilst New Right argue its now too easy to be a single parent.
• Secularisation, there is less stigma around single parent families.
• The government want to help provide for single parent families, so they feel more safe.
• There is less social pressure to get married.
• Increased cohabitation, People can split up easier. 

Teenage single mothers:

• Only 3% of lone mothers are teenagers
• Despite media headlines suggesting otherwise, overall, teenage pregnancies have fallen nationally by 9.4%  since 1999.
• in 1970, young woman aged 15 to 19 in England and Wales were almost twice as likely to become mothers as they are today.
• Furthermore, the belief held in some circles that teenagers only get pregnant to get a council house is not backed by facts.
• Seven out of ten 15 to 16 year old mothers, and around half of 17 and 18 year old mothers, stay in the family home.
• Actual average age of a lone parent is 34 years old. 

90% of single parent families are headed by women.

• women are seen to have a better connection with their children, there is a stigma that because women gave birth to the child, they are more nurturing and therefore, better suited to look after the child.

• Women are more likely to take a child away from a dysfunctional family than men are, this could be arguably because women have their 'Motherly intuition' and know when their baby could be in danger, or have an unhappy life. 

• in Courts, the mother is more likely to win custody of the child than their fathers.
•  Fathers may be less likely to give up work when a child is born.
• It is the cultural norm for women to bring up the children alone.

Cohabitation

 Is the concept of marriage dead?

• Cohabitation could have been the number one reason for the drop in the marriage rates.
• People find civil partnerships as far more valuable compared to the religious ceremonial Marriage.
• Secularisation has decreased as people do not feel the need to marry.

The average age for women to get married is 30, and for men it is 32.

Identify one strength and one weakness of the data in helping us to understand the changing family.

• The data clearly shows the different family types for the different age ranges. It shows the trends between age and family types.
  It shows us the types of family that exist and allows us to make predictions about how family life will change over time.
• However, a weakness of this data is that it does not show us an explanation as to why the family types change and the circumstances in which these changes happened, for example, divorce, death etc.

Reasons for the growth in cohabiting couples:

• Changes in social attitudes
• Economic factors
• Employment trends
• Religious trends
• Divorce

How would the following explain the trends in the data?

• functionalists:
• The fact that people get divorced can be considered a positive thing because it means that expectations are getting higher, however, the fact that people are not getting married is considered a bad thing because functionalists would argue that this leads to an unstable family

•  Marxists:
•  Cohabitation is seen as good because it is 'against the system' it stalls the preproduction of an unequal system that we live in since people are no longer following the same ideological teachings. 

• Feminists:
• Since women are becoming more independent cohabitation would be seen as more common, they see it as women becoming much more independent as individual units. 

Studies:

• Chester (1985) Neo-conventional, 5 year cycle, eventually become nuclear. Cohabiting is temporary
• chandler (1993) Time in cohabitation is lengthening and not ending with marriage
• Morgan (1999) Marriage is out of fashion
• Allan & Crow  (2001) say there is no clear family cycle. diversity is based on increased choice. In 1960s 1 in 20 women cohabited before marriage, by 80s 10 in 20 did.

Is Marriage Dead?

Infant Joy

'I have no name 

I am but two days old.'

What shall I call thee?

'I happy am 

Joy is my name.'

Sweet joy befall thee!

Pretty joy!

Sweet joy but two days old,

Sweet joy I call thee:

Thou dost smile,

I sing the while;

Sweet joy befall thee!

by William Blake

Life during the industrial revoloution

What was life like in the industrial revolution?

during the industrial revolution, It was the great age of science and it was becoming increasingly secular. There was a heavier reliance on machinery which meant less manual labour and loss of jobs.
The introduction of factories in London meant that there was mass migration from the countrysides to the cities in order to get jobs. As a result of the migration, Many cities like London and Manchester became over populated and became riddled with disease.

Social classes were dominant and there was virtually a caste system ideology. The poor were incredibly poor and had nothing, whereas the middle and upper classes were educated, making money from industrialisation and factories.

William Blake

William Blake:



William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English painter, poet and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake

Divorce Statistics

Divorce statistics are presented in 3 main ways:

• The total number of divorce petitions per year (the number of people applying for a divorce but not necessarily actually getting divorced.)
• The total number of decrees absolute granted per year (the number of divorces actually granted)
• The divorce rate (the number of divorces each year per thousand married people in the population.)

Divorce statistics must be treated with considerable caution, and assessed against changing legal , financial and social circumstances, if misleading conclusions about the declining  importance or marriage and the family are to be avoided. The increase may simply reflect easier and cheaper divorce procedures enabling the legal termination of already unhappy 'empty shell' marriages (where marital relationship has broken down but no divorce has taken place.) rather than a real increase in marriage breakdowns. It could be that people who in previous years could only separate are now divorcing as legal and financial obstacles are removed.
 
Divorce statistics only show the legal termination of marriages. They do not show:

• The number of people who are separated but not divorced
• The number of people who live in 'empty shell' marriages - many couples may want to split up but are deterred from doing so by their roles as parents.
• How many 'unstable' or 'unhappy' marriages existed before divorce was made easier by changes in the law and changing social attitudes towards divorce.

The Rising Divorce Rate

One of the most startling changes in the family in Britain in the last century has been the general and dramatic increase in the number of marriages ending in divorce, with similar trends found in many western industrialized countries. The number of divorce rates rose from 27,000 in 1961 to around 167,000 by 2005; during the 1960s the number doubled, and the doubled again in the 1970s.

Britain has one of the highest divorce rates (number of divorces per 1,000 married people per year) in the European Union. About 40% of new marriages today are likely to end in divorce, and, if present rates continue, more than one in four children will experience a parental divorce by the time they are 16.

MacDuff

 What do we know about Macduff?

- Paying attention to what Macbeth has been doing throughout the play
- Emerging role: Shakespeare makes him more prominent.
- his absence is ominous
- Macbeth's 'alter-ego' provides an interesting mirror of what Macbeth could have been/ How he should have behaved.
- shows us that the witches malice wouldn't have worked on him.
- Shown to be perceptive
- MacDove - harbinger of piece.

All Shakespeare plays have five Acts:

1. Exposition
2. Rising action
3. Climax
4. Falling action
5. Denouement

Tragedy

OBJ: To explore the idea of hamartia and to develop our ideas about Macbeth as a contemporary audience. 

Aristotle's Definition of tragedy:

 “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.”

Characters in tragedy should have the following qualities:

1. 'good' or 'fine.' Aristotle relates this quality to moral purpose and says it is relative to class: "even a woman may be good, and also a slave, though the woman may be said to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless."
2.  'fitness of character'; e.g valour is appropriate for a warrior but not for a woman.
3. 'true to life' or realistic
4. 'consistency'; Once a character's personality and motivations are established, these should continue throughout the play.
5. 'necessary or probable.' Characters must be logically constructed according to 'the law of probability or necessity' that governs the actions of the play.
6. 'true to life and yet more beautiful' 

The ghost of Banquo haunts Macbeth (Ian McKellen)

Family Diversity

Does divorce mean that the family is in decline?

OBJ: To know what divorce is, to examine why it happens and to consider the consequences.

What is divorce?
 Divorce is the legal separation between husband and wife.The termination of a marriage.
But there are different types of divorce, such as empty shell marriage which is them married by name only, Desertion where one partner leaves the other and legal separation, where the court separates financial dealings but still married.

divorce statistics are presented in three main ways:

1. The total number of divorce petitions per year (The number of people applying for a divorce but not necessarily gone through with it.
2. The total number of decrees absolute granted per year
3. The divorce rate

Reasons for divorce:

• Law:
• divorce has become accessible to women in 1923
• Divorce law reform act 1969 (first actioned in 1971)
• Divorce on the grounds of 'irretrievable breakdown'
• 1949 saw the introduction to money being available to help, but had to have a 3 year period of reconciliation
• The period of reconciliation was reduced to 1 year from 3
• Stigma and changing attitudes:
• Stigma is a negative label
• Churches condemned divorce
• Mitchell & Goody saw in the 1960s saw that divorce is more acceptable
• Couples now get divorced, which became a normality, it was no longer considered negatively but instead was treated as a misfortune.
• Secularisation
• 34% of Christians follow the traditional rules
• Churches don't want to lose followers so they have soften their views
• IN some religious communities, it is still shunned to get a divorce
• Rising expectations of marriage
• Marriage is no longer considered a binding contract
• Lower expectations of people of being married has led to increase in divorce
• A change in the paradigm of love, it is considered Romantic and that if you no longer love each other, there is no point of marriage.
• Higher expectations makes couples today less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage.
• Changing potions of women
• Radical feminists argue that the cause of divorce is due to the dissatisfaction with patriarchal society which less women want to tolerate
• Women have greater success in education and get better life prospects
• Developments mean that women are more likely to be able to support themselves in the event of divorce
• The availability of welfare benefits means that women no longer have to remain financially dependant on their husbands.

Creative critical response coursework

OBJ: To know the itches second set of prophecies. To understand what is expected in the creative critical commentary coursework.


"Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough."

Shakespeare establishes the power of the supernatural.

"Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth."

The equivocation allows for the superstition linked to caesarian birth were thought to be blessed.

"What is this That rises like the issue of a king, And wears upon his baby-brow the round And top of sovereignty?" 

 Juxtaposes prelapsarian innocence with Macbeth's iniquity. The idea of a "barren sceptre" and "fruitless crown"

"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him."

The implausibility of this makes him feel entirely invincible.

"That will never be Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root?"

Macbeth acknowledges that there is a force greater than that of man (the force of nature which is a pagan idea.) The shallow absurdity of these prophecies is exposed later on.

Braggadocio

OBJ: To deploy our critical language effectively to “review” a scene (AO1)
To explore and probe AO2

Word of the day: Braggadocio (boastful or arrogant behaviour.)



In a good review, you should be able to evaluate different productions, you also need to show your own interpretations of the character. It is important that you add some well placed judiciously placed quotes, in addition it is good to add a layer of what of other critiques have said about the production.

Critique of Polanski's adaptation of the Macbeth banquet scene:

Finch's portrayal of Macbeth in this scene conveys a Macbeth who, despite his best efforts, cannot maintain his façade of being innocent and is being crushed by his mind “full of scorpions”. Finch's performance shows none of the braggadocio of Stewart's performance and presents himself as more human than Stewart's interpretation of a 'starlinesque' Dictator.

Arguably, Shakespeare wanted Macbeth to be presented as a noble king mildly affected by the death of the King, and then broken by the vision of Banquo's ghost.

Section A

OBJ: To recap which AOs you should address for each part of the unseen poetry questions and how  to respond to unseen poetry in the AS exam.

AS Paper is two hours and 15 minutes long;

Unseen Poetry = 20 marks

Home poetry = 50 marks

Part A: 5 marks – JUST AO1 is marked (come up with 5 'answers' and embed quotes – keep it short and sweet)

Part B: 5 marks – JUST AO2 is marked (in this answer, focus on language, structure, form analysis of quotes and ideas in the poem. You can literally pick and explore quotes for this one.)

The use of sibilance in 'Shepard's swains shall dance and sing' enhances the euphonious mood of the poem. The use of repetition shows a sense of urgency which creates resolution at the end: 'Then live with me and be my love.' the use of euphony ('melodic tone to intensify the dynamic symbolism between nature and his lover. The use of rhyming couplets give the poem a steady rhythm, perhaps to symbolise the stability of their relationship. Assonance is also used to emphasize the pastoral theme of the poem and the many elements of nature mentioned throughout ('Valleys, groves, hills, woods...')


1. with close reference to 1 or 2 examples, explore the imagery which has been used in the poem.

'And I will make thee beds of roses / And a thousand fragrant posies'
by this point in the poem, Marlowe has used many clichéd images of the idea of love. The hyperbole of 'a thousand fragrant posies' may symbolise the strength of his love for her and nature. Perhaps Marlowe uses the image of these flowers to symbolise his conquering of the finite aspects of love. Where one flower blooms, wither and dies, his 'thousand' flowers seem eternal.

Unseen Poetry

OBJ: To explore how to respond to the 10 mark question in unseen poetry in the AS exam.


Analysis of The Passion Of The Shepard To His Love

'There will I make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies' - Nature is seen as idyllic in pastoral poetry

'Come live with me and be my love' - Idyllic language used to depict nature represents idyllic aspect of love.

'pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold' - Celestial imagery insinuates transcendence of his love over normality. The regal representation gives gravitas.

'The shepherd's swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each may morning' - Symbolic of Spring, new beginnings, fresh starts.


Shared writing of first PEE:

Marlowe's divine depiction of the celestial imagery insinuates transcendence of his love over normality. This intimates the regal representation of their love which gives their love gravitas;
"Our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;"
The vivid imagery of the 'buckles of the purest gold' emphasizes the pastoral conventions of the poem. Specifically, 'purest' relates to his lover's innocence and purity of self. The 'pretty lambs' provide an eschatological reference to Jesus and his purity also. Lambs also suggest new life as they are a symbol of Spring and new beginnings. Marlowe's representation of the lovers goes beyond metaphysical; he presents much imagery of a holy or celestial form within this pastoral poem.

The Passionate Shepard to his Love

COME live with me and be my Love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

That hills and valleys, dale and field,

And all the craggy mountains yields.

There will we sit upon the rocks,

5And see the shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow rivers, to whose falls

Melodious birds sing madrigals.

There will I make thee beds of roses

And a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty lambs we pull;

Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,

With coral clasps and amber studs:

And if these pleasures may thee move,

Come live with me and be my Love.

The shepards' swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each may morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me and by my love.

Economic factors

Push factors: the negative aspects of their 'home' society that may make them want to migrate. Examples of push factors are lack of jobs and poor economy.

Pull factors: Things the destination society might offer that attracts migrants, examples of pull factors are a stable economy and good exports.

Recent and future patterns

We have increasing levels of both immigration and emigration, highest in 2004, this is down to Britain joining the European Union. Males might go and work and send money home, as well as young males and females going abroad to study. Older people migrate to retire or to visit family.

Check Questions & answers:

  

• Identify two public health measures that helped to produce the decline in the death rate
• Improvements in housing; cleaner drinking water; food and drink laws; improved sewerage; Clean Air Acts.

• Suggest two reasons for the decline in the birth rate in the 20th century
• Changes in the position of women; decline in the infant mortality rate; children are now an economic liability; child-centred families.

• Suggest two reasons for class differences in infant mortality.
• Class differences in factors such as family size, access to good housing, sanitation, nutrition, mother’s knowledge of hygiene, access to health services, uptake of immunisation.

• How might population trends in the UK be related to the increase in the proportion of married women working?
• Married women working may lead to a fall in the birth rate because they tend to delay childbearing or may not have children at all.

• Suggest two reasons for the decline in maternal mortality.
• Smaller families; better knowledge of hygiene; improved ante- and post-natal services; better nutrition.

• Identify three reasons why many women today are having their children at a later age than earlier generations? 
• They are continuing their education; starting careers; cohabiting and establishing a home before starting a family.

• What is the typical effect of immigration on fertility rates?
• Immigrant mothers tend to have higher fertility rates than mothers in the UK.

• Identify two effects migration may have on the dependency ration.
• Migrants tend to be of working age and in the short term this will reduce the dependency ratio. However, because migrants tend to be young and therefore fertile, they are more likely to produce children and this will increase the dependency ratio.

Oligopoly

OBJ: To recognise how institutions and audiences effect magazine production.

Oligopoly

In the UK, the magazine industry operates as an oligopoly. An oligopoly is where several companies have grown larger and larger whilst competing , to the point where they all have equal power and they all dominate the market. In the UK the companies that dominate the magazine market are:

• Hearst - produce 300 worldwide magazines with their UK company Hearst UK publishing 24 magazines in Britain including Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Elle, Esquire, Good housekeeping and company. 
• IPC Media - They produce 60 magazines in Britain including NME, Nuts, Woman's own, Marie Claire, Loaded etc. Their magazines get bought by 26 million people a month, and their websites get visited by nearly 20 million people a month.
• Bauer - (incorporating EMAP) - They produce 280 magazines worldwide with 80 of those in Britain including Bliss, Empire, FHM, Heat, Kerrang, Take A Break and Q.
• Conde Nast - They produce over 30 magazines in Britain including Glamour, wired and Vogue

Macbeth revisits the witches

Equivocation
he use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself.

The witches use equivocating language in order to manipulate Macbeth, The prophecy 'None of women born can harm Macbeth' this is an example of equivocation as it leads Macbeth to believe he is invincible, However, Macduff was born of a C-section, Therefore he wasn't 'born' meaning that Macduff can kill Macbeth.

"Darkness, we may even say blackness, broods over this tragedy. It is remarkable that almost all the scenes which at once recur to memory take place either at night or in some dark spot. The vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, the sleep-walking of Lady Macbeth, all come in night-scenes. the Witches dance in the thick air of a storm, or, 'black and midnight hags,' receive Macbeth in a cavern. The blackness of night is to the hero a thing of fear, even of horror;and that which he feels becomesthe spirit of the play."

How does Shakespeare present darkness and the role of the supernatural in these scenes? How a our perceptions of Macbeth's character shaped in these scenes?

Hecate's Soliloquy translated into modern English

HECATE

Don’t I have a reason to be angry, you disobedient hags? How dare you give Macbeth riddles and prophecies about his future without telling me? I am your boss and the source of your powers. I am the one who secretly decides what evil things happen, but you never called me to join in and show off my own powers. And what’s worse, you’ve done all this for a man who behaves like a spoiled brat, angry and hateful. Like all spoiled sons, he chases after what he wants and doesn’t care about you. But you can make it up to me. Go away now and in the morning meet me in the pit by the river in hell. Macbeth will go there to learn his destiny. You bring your cauldrons, your spells, your charms, and everything else. I’m about to fly away. I’ll spend tonight working to make something horrible happen. I have a lot to do before noon. An important droplet is hanging from the corner of the moon. I’ll catch it before it falls to the ground. When I work it over with magic spells, the drop will produce magical spirits that will trick Macbeth with illusions.

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_122.html

Hecate

OBJ: To consider the role and purpose of Hecate.


 Who is Hecate?

Hecate or Hekate  is a goddess in Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding two torches or a key and in later periods depicted in triple form. She was variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, dogs, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery. In the post-Christian writings of the Chaldean Oracles (2nd-3rd century CE) she was regarded with (some) rulership over earth, sea and sky, as well as a more universal role as Saviour (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul. She was one of the main deities worshiped in Athenian households as a protective goddess and one who bestowed prosperity and daily blessings on the family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecate
HECATE

Have I not reason, beldams as you are?

Saucy and overbold, how did you dare

To trade and traffic with Macbeth

In riddles and affairs of death,

And I, the mistress of your charms,

The close contriver of all harms,

Was never called to bear my part,

Or show the glory of our art?

And, which is worse, all you have done

Hath been but for a wayward son,

Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,

Loves for his own ends, not for you.

But make amends now. Get you gone,

And at the pit of Acheron

Meet me i' th' morning. Thither he

Will come to know his destiny.

Your vessels and your spells provide,

Your charms and everything beside.

I am for the air. This night I’ll spend

Unto a dismal and a fatal end.

Great business must be wrought ere noon.

Upon the corner of the moon

There hangs a vap'rous drop profound.

I’ll catch it ere it come to ground.

And that distilled by magic sleights

Shall raise such artificial sprites

As by the strength of their illusion

Shall draw him on to his confusion.

"And I, the mistress of your charms, The close contriver of all harms"

Hecates  is the 'mother' of the witches, the leader of the supernatural group and is angry with the three witches for not consulting her. She represents the symbolic cross roads that Macbeth has arrived at in the play.

"Meet me i'th' morning; thither he will come, to know his destiny."

Hecates is a symbol of illumination for Macbeth, she is lighting the way to his destiny.

Introduction to John Stewart Mill

John Stewart Mill was born in 1806 and died in 1873, Mill was a philosopher, social reformer and economist, his key works include "On liberty" and "Utilitarianism"

"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied." - John Stewart Mill on Happiness

His main interests were political philosophy, ethics, economics and inductive logic.

John Stewart Mill was a proponent of Utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham. He worked on his theory of the scientific method. Mill was also a member of parliament and an important figure in liberal political philosophy.

Evaluating Bentham

OBJ: To evaluate Act Utilitarianism. To understand Mill's improvements to the theory.

Strengths of Act Utilitarianism:

• Democratic
• Focusses on Happiness
• Common sense system
• Flexible system
• Egalitarian
• No one persons pleasure is more valued more than any other
• It includes a decision making procedure
• Encourages others to be kind to one another
• Recognises the importance of consequence.

Weaknesses of Act Utilitarianism:

• Can justify acts that we consider intrinsically wrong (Gang Rape, the holocaust)
• Doesn't consider the intention behind the action
• Doesn't consider pleasure through pain (Masochism & Sadism)
• Ii isn't very practical as the Hedonic Calculus is hard to apply
• Implies all forms of happiness are equal
• Its not always possible to know the consequences of an action
• There are no intrinsic values.

The Hedonic Calculus

OBJ: To know and understand Bentham's Hedonic Calculus

Intensity --How intense is the pleasure or pain?

Duration --How long does the pleasure of pain last?

Certainty --What is the probability that the pleasure or pain will occur?

Propinquity (nearness or remoteness) --How far off in the future is the pleasure or pain?

Fecundity --What is the probability that the pleasure will lead to other pleasures?

Purity --What is the probability that the pain will lead to other pains?

Extent --How many persons are affected by the pleasure?

Jeremy Bentham and Utillitarianism

What is Utilitarianism?

Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical theory that states that right and wrong are determined by the utility of it. Jeremy Bentham established pain and pleasure were important qualities in making moral decisions; He believed that motivation comes through pain and pleasure.

Utilitarianism is a democratic system as the pleasure can't be just for one person.The only good is the maximisation of pleasure and the minimisation of pain. It judges the ethicacy of an action only by the consequence.  

Utilitarianism follows a criteria to place a judgement whether or not an action was morally right or wrong, because of this, it is a secular ethical theory.

Who was Jeremy Betham?

Jeremy Bentham was the founder of Utilitarianism, he was a British philosopher and atheist who was born in 1748 and died in 1832. He authored 'The principles of morals and legislation' in 1789.

Utilitarianism is based on the idea that human beings want to avoid pain and attain pleasure, therefore it is often referred to as a Hedonistic theory.In utilitarianism, there are no intrinsic goods or bads, Pleasure is the sole good, and pain is the sole bad.

Bentham's beliefs about moral action can be summarised in the principle of utility. Utility means the usefulness, for Betham, the usefulness and goodness of an action is determined by the amount of pleasure it produces.

"The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people."  -The principle of utility

Bentham believes that pain and pleasure are the things that motivate human beings as humans want to achieve happiness and avoid pain.

Absolute and relative approaches to ethics

OBJ: To be able to compare objective and absolute.

What is moral Absolutism?
Moral absolutism is the idea that an action is always right or wrong; the right or wrongness of an action is fixed for all peoples at all times.

"There will not be different laws at Rome or at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times."
 -Cicero on natural law

Teleological and Deontological Ethics

OBJ: To revise what effects our moral decision making.

What is an ethical theory?
An ethical theory is a set of ideas which offer a suggestion of how we know something is morally wrong.

Teleological ethics
Actions are morally right or wrong depending on the consequences of the action, No actions are intrinsically right or wrong.

Deontological ethics
Deontological ethics are concerned with the nature of the act, it needs no justification. Deonlogical ethics tend to be for or against an absolute or religious law.

What is ethics?

OBJ: to investigate what influences our ethical and moral decision making.

Morality:
The word morality comes from the Latin word 'Moralis' and it is concerned with what actions are right or wrong.

Ethics:
It comes from the Greek word 'ethika' and it is concerned with how people behave in society. Ethics is the study of morality and how people make moral decisions, the subject explores the consequences and motives of moral decision making and human nature.

What kind of things can influence our moral decision making?

• Guilt
• Experience
• Up bringing
• Opinion of others
• The law
• Your religion
• Emotion
• Conscience
• Consequences of your actions
• Intuition (Your 'gut feeling')